This regiment was formed at Iuka in the summer of 1861 of companies that
were early organized but had not been able to get into regiments for active service. They
were required to enlist "for the war." Company E was mustered into the
Confederate service at Liberty July 25, and then went to the camp at Iuka. Company D was
mustered in at Corinth by Colonel Posey and sent to Iuka. Company G, after its
organization, waiting vainly for orders, lost many members who joined other commands in
the field; after the battle of Manassas reorganized and enlisted for the war, arrived at
Iuka July 30, expecting to join the Twentieth Regiment. It being full, Captain Reid and
Captain Nix went to Richmond and secured the enrollment of their commands as independent
companies. September 10 they were ordered to Memphis, Tenn., where Colonel Bonham had gone
with his incomplete regiment, the Twenty-second. These reminiscences illustrate the
formation of the regiment.

On July 1 Governor Pettus reported that Bonham's Regiment was raised
"for the war," but this appears to have been anticipatory. Adjutant-General
Cooper telegraphed to General Clark at Corinth July 31, 1861 "Capt. James D.
Caulfields company, Liberty Guards, accepted by President to be part of one of the
two Mississippi regiments at Iuka. Order these regiments as soon as organized to
Lynchburg."

Bonham's Regiment was completed at Memphis, and on September 23 reported
to General Polk at Columbus, Ky., where they remained until after the battle of Belmont,
November 7, of which they were spectators, without being called into action. After this
they were ordered back to Union City, Tenn., and thence marched to Fulton, Ky., the night
of October 1. October 6 they went into winter quarters at Camp Beauregard, in Graves
County, Ky., and remained there until Christmas, making several expeditions meanwhile to
Mayfield and Columbus, and once marching in the night to within six or eight miles of
Paducah. There were many sick and a considerable number died, among them Colonel Bonham,
of pneumonia, in November. The regiment was reported November 30, 795 present, and a part
of the brigade of Gen. John S. Bowen at Camp Beauregard. After Christmas they were moved
to Clarksville, and thence to Bowling Green, December 29, where they were in winter
quarters until February 12, when, on account of Grant's advance to Fort Donelson, General
Johnston was compelled to retire to Murfreesboro, Tenn. They were at Nashville the day of
battle at Fort Donelson and could hear the artillery. The regiment was about 580 strong in
January and was brigaded with the Twenty-fifth Mississippi under Bowen.

After the retreat to Murfreesboro they were transferred to the remnant of
Zollicoffer's Brigade, which had retreated from the battle of Fishing Creek, Ky.
Lieutenant-Colonel Schaller was in command of the regiment and Colonel Statham, of the
Fifteenth, in command of the brigade, February 23.

They reached their old camp at Iuka in March, and after the Federal
gunboats appeared on the river below Pittsburg Landing the regiment, under Colonel
Schaller, engaged in frequent movements to Eastport. March 26 Schaller reported that his
artillery had disabled the gunboat Lexington on the previous day, but he was removing the
artillery by order of General Crittenden and would evacuate Eastport that day.

Statham's Brigade was part of Breckenridge's "reserve corps" in
the organization before the battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, and in that battle fought
under the command of Breckenridge, participating in the capture of Prentiss' Division, and
at the close of the first day were on the front line, occupying the heights overlooking
the Tennessee River, under fire of the gunboats.

The casualties of the regiment at Shiloh were heavy. Colonel Schaller and
Major -- [name not given] were so severely wounded as to be disabled for further service,
and Lieutenant-Colonel -- [name not given] and three Captains died on the field.

After this the regiment served in the lines around Corinth during
Halleck's siege and participated in the engagement at Farmington, April 27. Upon the
evacuation of Corinth, May 29, the Twenty-second and Fifth Kentucky were detailed as rear
guard for the left wing and remained on the banks of the Tuscumbia south of Corinth until
the evening of June 1, engaged in almost uninterrupted fire with the Federal pickets.
Couriers sent to order them back failed to reach them, and they made a night march to
Baldwin, June 1, through a country occupied by the Federal outposts, and rejoined the
army. (I. E. Hirsch's sketch.) They moved from Baldwin to Tupelo, encamped at Kunewa June
12-22, suffering terribly for water, and then joined in the movement of Breckinridge's
command to Vicksburg, where they were encamped at Bovina and at Four Mile bridge, picketed
the river below the city, engaged in the attempt to surprise the Federal fort eight or ten
miles below the city and capture the mortar boats. Being discovered in this movement they
were exposed for some hours to a heavy fire from the fleet, including the Brooklyn, and
there were several casualties, mainly from falling timber This service in July, in intense
heat, disabled a considerable part of the command. They were witnesses of the naval battle
of the ram Arkansas.

Following is the return of the Twenty-second in "Breckenridge's
Division, Army of the Mississippi, Vicksburg, July 20, 1862"; Col. F. Schaller,
Lieutenant-Colonel Prestidge, Adjutant Fitzpatrick, Quartermaster W. M. Jayne, Commissary
Captain Jones, Assistant Surgeon G. C. Phillips. Part of Fourth Brigade. July 29 they left
Vicksburg under the command of General Breckenridge, and moved to Camp Moore, La., whence
they marched to the attack on the Federal force at Baton Rouge. The Twenty-second; greatly
reduced in numbers, was commanded in the battle of August 5 by Capt. Felix Hughes, who
received a mortal wound at the head of his men leading the brigade in a gallant attack.
The casualties of the regiment were: 13 killed and 34 wounded, which was equaled in that
battle by only one other command in Clark's Division, the Thirty-first Mississippi.
General Clark himself fell with a wound supposed to be mortal, and his aide, Lieutenant
Yerger, remained with him on the field where they were captured. General Clark, his aides,
Lieutenants Spooner and Yerger, and Captain Hughes and Adjutant Fitzgerald were commended
by Breckenridge for gallant conduct.

August 7 Breckinridge's troops marched to Port Hudson and began the
fortifications there. August 24 they started back to Jackson, Miss., where they arrived on
the 29th and were given a rest of twelve days at Sulphur Springs. Under the command of
General Van Dorn the Twenty-second, Fifteenth and Sixth Regiments, Caruther's Battalion
and the First Missouri formed the brigade of Gen. John S. Bowen, in Lovell's Division. Van
Dorn advanced to the vicinity of Grand Junction, Tenn., in September, while General Price,
in eastern Mississippi, advanced to Iuka and fought the battle of September 19. Van Dorn
and Price then united at Ripley and advanced ten days later to Pocahontas, Tenn., whence
they marched to attack Rosecrans at Corinth. At Chewalla the Twenty-second surprised a
Federal outpost and captured a number of prisoners, with slight casualties.

In the attack on the 3d against the outer line of works, Bowen, Rust and
Villipigue attacked a hill at the crossing of the State line road and railroad, on which
was posted artillery, with rifle pits extending north and south. General Lovell reported
that "the hill was carried mainly by the Ninth Arkansas and Twenty-second
Mississippi, each vieing with the other in the dashing gallantry of their charge."
The Federals abandoned the position so hurriedly that they left one Parrott gun. Captain
Lester, commanding the regiment, was mentioned for gallantry. Concerning the captured gun,
known as the "Lady Richardson," General Rust acknowledged, in his report, that
the Twenty-second Mississippi, under Captain Lester, was entitled to a full share of
honor. General Bowen claimed the capture of the gun, and said the Twenty-second deserved
special mention for their gallant charge. The regiment was with the brigade in the advance
of the 4th, coming under a destructive artillery fire, and shared the duties of rear guard
on the retreat of the army across the Tuscumbia River, taking part in the action of
October 5. On the march to Holly Springs there was continual skirmishing for the rear
guard. At Coldwater, where General Pemberton took command early in November, they
skirmished November 9 and fell back to Abbeville. When Grant advanced from Memphis along
the railroad, they fell back, after several days' skirmishing, to Oxford, Water Valley and
Coffeeville, where there was a considerable engagement December 5. December and January
they were in winter quarters at Grenada. January 31 the Twenty-second was assigned to
Rust's Brigade, Loring's Division, the Mississippi regiments of which constituted
Featherston's Brigade after February. In February the regiment went into camp on the Big
Black River near Edwards, and March 1 they moved to Chickasaw Bayou.

March 19 General Featherston was ordered with his brigade to Snyder's
Bluff, whence he took steamer with the Twenty-second and Thirty-third Regiments and a
section of artillery up Sunflower River to Rolling Fork, where Col. S. W. Ferguson had
preceded him with his command from Greenville. They engaged the five Federal gunboats
under Admiral Porter and Sherman's land forces on April 20th and throughout a period of
nearly ten days, until the expedition withdrew through Black bayou. April 22 a
considerable Federal force was landed on one of the dry spots and an attempt made to cut
off the two Mississippi regiments. The total Confederate losses in the skirmishes were 2
killed and 6 or 8 wounded. In his report of the Rolling Fork campaign Featherston
mentioned Capt. W. R. Barksdale, Adjutant-General; Lieut. A. N. Parker, Aide; Lieut. W. A.
Drennan, Ordinance Officer; E. M. AcAfee, Volunteer Aide; Major E. H. Cummins, Engineer
Officer of Maury's Staff.

When the gunboat had escaped in Black River the regiment was taken to Fort
Pemberton, at the confluence of the Yalobusha and Tallahatchie where Pemberton was
withstanding another expedition of gunboats from the Mississippi River which had come down
the Yazoo Pass. Here the famous steamer, Star of the West, fired upon at Charleston harbor
January 9, 1861, and captured off Galveston, was sunk as an obstruction of the
Tallahatchie. When the high water began to subside the Federal fleet retired. The brigade
moved to Grenada and took train for Vicksburg about the time Grant landed his army at
Bruinsburg below that city. After much marching and countermarching in the vicinity of
Vicksburg they were near Edwards May 12. Advancing, on the night of May 15, the regiment
went into bivouac not far from the camp of an artillery company which they supposed was
Confederate, and the surprise was great early in the morning when the battery opened fire
upon them. A hasty retreat was made in which General Loring and his staff took part, and
the camp was necessarily abandoned. (Hirsch's sketch.) During the next day, May 16, the
battle of Baker's Creek was fought by Lee and Stevenson, on the left of Loring, while a
large Federal force lay quietly in front of Loring, except for the artillery firing, in
which General Tilghman was killed, and repeated feints of advance for position. Late in
the evening Featherston's Brigade was moved, after urgent orders to Loring, from the right
wing to the left, to reinforce Stevenson and Lee. The brigade was put in position, Loring
reported, to protect the rear of the retreating forces and to cover the failing back of
Buford's Brigade, which duty was ably and gallantly executed. Featherston reported his
engagement as a skirmish, in which his brigade behaved well, advancing twice and retiring
when so ordered. On the retreat they followed General Loring, who considered it dangerous
to cross the ford of Baker's Creek in their rear, and moved down the creek westward, and
finally, in the night, marching past and through Federal bivouacs, they moved to Crystal
Springs, and thence on the 21st to Jackson. The only casualties of the brigade in this
battle were in the Twenty-second Regiment -- John McCrossen, Company D, mortally wounded,
and John Berry, Company F, slightly wounded.

Under the command of General Johnston they moved to Canton and thence to
the Big Black River. Captain Russell, of the Twenty-second, commanded the scouts in an
expedition June 4 for the capture of a foraging party along the Big Black. When Vicksburg
surrendered they fell back to Jackson, served in the fortified line (near the Moody
place), besieged by Sherman July 9-16, and then fell back to Morton. The winter quarters
were at Goodman. General Polk took command of the army, and as Sherman advanced from
Vicksburg to Meridian, in February, 1864, Lorings Division moved to Morton and
thence to Demopolis, Ala. Early in April, 1864, under orders to reinforce Johnston in
Georgia, they moved to Montevallo, Ala., and thence to Rome, Ga.

The regimental commanders during the Atlanta campaign were Major Martin A.
Oatis, Lieut.-Col. H. J. Reid, Col. William N. Brown, Maj. James M. Stigler of regiment
and First Battalion consolidated.

The regiment arrived at Resaca May 12, opened the battle on the 13th, was
in reserve on the battle line next day, meeting the attack of McPherson, repulsed a charge
May 15, and was under fire until the evacuation on the night of the 16th. Loring's
Division brought up the rear. Featherston's Brigade skirmished at Cassville, and on the
Dallas and New Hope Church line was in heavy skirmishing and under bombardment night and
day. May 31 the brigade was ordered forward to feel the Federal position, and lost 24
killed and 98 wounded. At the base of Kenesaw Mountain, near Marietta, June 27, the
brigade repulsed the Federal attack in their front. In general orders William Dennis,
Company B; William Hatswell, Company C; and D. M. Dye, Company E, of the Twenty-second
Regiment, were commended for gallantry, July 9. In the battle of Peachtree Creek, July 20,
the regiment was commanded by Major Oatis, who was severely wounded, Captain J. T. Formby
succeeding him. In this battle Company G, Captain Standley, was deployed as skirmishers.
After the regiment had occupied the Federal rifle pits on the picket line, they advanced
and were compelled to cross a boggy marsh in which some of the bravest and best men were
killed by the terrible fire that was concentrated upon them. Yet they went on and drove
the enemy from a line of rail works they were building, but were forced to retire to avoid
capture. The casualties, 24 killed, 64 wounded, 5 missing. Ensign Michael Meagher, Private
J. T. Longino, Company A, and Sergeant Harrison Bailey, Company B, all were shot down
while carrying the colors. Adjutant C. V. H. Davis, while performing the same duty, and
encouraging the men, was killed. Lieutenant Lea, Company C, bore the flag during the rest
of the engagement. A newspaper report mentioned also Captains Gay, Farmbry, Hughes,
severely wounded; Lieuts. Underwood, Roth, Blalock and Huntley, killed. At the evacuation
of Atlanta the regiment was in battle at Rough and Ready, Jonesboro and Flint River. Roll
of Honor, published August 10, 1864: Private J. W. Patterson, Company C, for meritorious
conduct whilst on picket duty, July 9, 1864; William Dennis, Company B; William Hatswell,
Company C; D. M. Nye, Company E.

In the October, 1864, campaign on the Chattanooga and Atlanta Railroad,
Featherston's Brigade captured the Federal post at Big Shanty; was with Loring's Division
in the capture of Acworth, and with Stewart's Corps in the destruction of the railroad
between Dalton and Resaca, after which they moved through the mountains to Gadsden, Ala.,
skirmished at Decatur, October 26-29, and moved thence to Tuscumbia.

November 20 they crossed the Tennessee River with Stewart's Corps, the old
Army of Mississippi, then reduced to 12,684 aggregate present, in its nine brigades. By
December 9 the aggregate present was only 8,155, of which 1,208 were in Featherston's
Brigade. November 26 they confronted Schofield at Columbia, on the 29th they marched
toward Spring Hill, on the 30th they followed Schofield to Franklin on the Harpeth and
joined with Cheatham's Corps in the memorable assault upon the Federal works. "The
color bearers of the Third and Twenty-second planted their colors on the enemy's works,
and were wounded and captured with their colors." (Featherston). Of the brigade 76
were killed, 200 wounded, 76 missing. In the investment of Thomas' army at Nashville
Loring's Division held the front of the corps, a line of one mile across the Granny White
pike, supported by redoubts on the summits of five hills. Maj. Martin A. Oatis was in
command of the regiment on the 10th. December 15 Thomas attacked, carried two of the
redoubts and broke the line. A second line was formed, Loring's Division formed a new line
and checked the flank attack. December 16 they repulsed every attack until the line was
broken on their left. On both days many were captured. At Columbia, December 20,
Featherston's Brigade was one of the seven selected for Walthall to command as the rear
guard of infantry, remaining in face of the enemy until the rest of the army had gained
two days start. December 21 the brigade was reported 727 aggregate, the
Twenty-second, 104. On the retreat they were in battle with their pursuers at Anthony Hill
and Sugar Creek, gallantly and successfully, December 25-26.

They crossed the Tennessee River, December 28, and marched to winter
quarters near Tupelo.

About the first of February, 1865, the remnant of Loring's Division began
the movement to reinforce General Johnston in the Carolinas. They were ordered forward
from Augusta, Ga., to Newberry, S. C., February 25. In the Carolina campaign against
Sherman they participated in the battle of Kinston, March 10, and Bentonville, March
19-21, on the 19th making a gallant and successful charge, but with heavy loss.
Organization of army under Gen. J. E. Johnston, near Smithfield, N. C., March 31, 1865,
Featherston's Brigade commanded by Major Martin A. Oatis, the Twenty-second Regiment by
Captain G. W. Standley. April 9, First, Twenty-second and Thirty-third Regiments and First
Battalion consolidated as the Twenty-second Regiment, Col. Martin A. Oatis commanding.
Hostilities were suspended April 18, the army was surrendered April 26 near Durham
Station, and paroled at Greensboro.